# Wedding dance music!!! (i.e. help with, please) **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [August 13, 2004, 1:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wedding-dance-music-i-e-help-with-please/259626 "2004-08-13T01:05:14Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 10\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Standup\_Karmic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ac91a4/32.png) [@Standup\_Karmic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Standup_Karmic)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2004, 1:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wedding-dance-music-i-e-help-with-please/259626/1 "2004-08-13T01:05:14Z")
So, I get to DJ a wedding this weekend. For a friend. I’ve never DJ’d before. I’ve got my mittens on a DJ CD collection, so I gots all I needs at my disposal. I think I can read the crowd well enough to figure out what ought to be played, as they start getting a bit drunk and having some fun. What I’d like is your suggestions on the first dozen or so songs I should play, in the order I should play them. That is, what would be the best playlist for “testing” the crowd to see what they like? ---
**Author:** ![Standup\_Karmic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ac91a4/32.png) [@Standup\_Karmic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Standup_Karmic)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2004, 3:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wedding-dance-music-i-e-help-with-please/259626/2 "2004-08-13T03:59:37Z")
Really? It’s been 3 hours, and nobody has suggested anything? The Cafe people, I figured, woulda commented by now. ---
**Author:** ![Albert\_Rose](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/9de053/32.png) [@Albert\_Rose](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Albert_Rose)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2004, 4:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wedding-dance-music-i-e-help-with-please/259626/3 "2004-08-13T04:19:12Z")
At our wedding, we played OutKast’s _Hey Ya!_ early on, which went over very well. Marvin Gaye’s _Got to Give It Up_ also got people dancing. [Here’s](http://www.cmevents.com/act/dj/songbook/djmusic.htm) a link that may prove helpful. ---
**Author:** ![CrazyCatLady](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/dfb087/32.png) [@CrazyCatLady](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CrazyCatLady)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2004, 7:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wedding-dance-music-i-e-help-with-please/259626/4 "2004-08-13T07:08:08Z")
See, the problem is that no matter what anybody tells you to play, somebody’s going to come busting in and say, “Nobody wants to hear _that_ shit!” And no matter what you play, someone at the wedding reception will come up and demand to know what you think you’re doing playing such utter crap. A whole lot depends on the crowd. The music **Albert** mentioned might have worked great for the crowd at his wedding, but at my wedding it wouldn’t have worked so well. The Outkast song would have gone over like an orgy during Sunday School. People would have been sitting there discreetly casting appalled glances at one another. Your best bet is probably to talk to the bride and groom, since they’re the ones most likely to have a feel for the group you’ll be working with. They won’t be giving you specific songs, of course, as they have roughly five million other things on their minds at the moment, but they should be able to give you a general idea of where to start. Once you have that, the Dopers can probably make you a play list. ---
**Author:** ![Monkey\_Chews](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/65b543/32.png) [@Monkey\_Chews](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Monkey_Chews)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2004, 7:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wedding-dance-music-i-e-help-with-please/259626/5 "2004-08-13T07:40:30Z")
Hmmmm… it’s tricky not knowing what age your friends are, and what age most of their friends are likely to be. And are you mainly trying to cater for the happy couple’s age group and the kids, or do you want Great Aunt Gertrude up there shaking her tail-feather as well? But this is probably what I’d go with if it were me, trying to mix up some old stuf and new stuff, lots of different styles, and keeping it up-tempo and fairly well known. Vogue - Madonna Take Me Out - Franz Ferdinand Crazy In Love - Beyonce Song 2 - Blur Love Shack - The B-52s Twist and Shout - The Beatles She Wants To Move - N_E_R\*D Debaser - The Pixies Baby One More Time - Brittney Spears Tainted Love - Soft Cell Celebrity Skin - Hole California Dreamin’ - Mamas and the Papas Praise You - Fatboy Slim This should at least give you a pretty good idea of what you’re dealing with. ---
**Author:** ![Cazzle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cazzle/32/75_2.png) [@Cazzle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cazzle)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2004, 11:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wedding-dance-music-i-e-help-with-please/259626/6 "2004-08-13T11:33:46Z")
> [@AlbertRose](#): > > At our wedding, we played OutKast’s _Hey Ya!_ early on, which went over very well. Marvin Gaye’s _Got to Give It Up_ also got people dancing. > [Here’s](http://www.cmevents.com/act/dj/songbook/djmusic.htm) a link that may prove helpful. Hey Ya!? _Don’t want to meet your Daddy Just want you in my caddy Don’t want to meet your Momma Just want to make you cumma_ For a wedding? 😃 We checked out [This Day In Music](http://www.thisdayinmusic.com/cont/choose.html) to find out what was number 1 on the days we were born, which is why we ended up with Fernando and Dancing Queen on our playlist. Hey, we thought it was funny. It’s all about the in jokes. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![EhhMon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/ce73a5/32.png) [@EhhMon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EhhMon)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2004, 1:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wedding-dance-music-i-e-help-with-please/259626/7 "2004-08-13T13:21:10Z")
dude, how can you leave out the “Macarena” song? “Celebration” song. good dancing songs that get the crowds going. “Dancing Queen” is another one. “Electric Boogie”. put in some country line dancing songs as well. By the time the crowd is fully drunk you can start playing any song cause no one cares, they just wanna dance. As a joke play “Like a Virgin” by Madonna and “Cherry Wine” Jermaine Stewart. ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_Bravo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_bravo/32/493_2.png) [@Johnny\_Bravo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_Bravo)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2004, 1:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wedding-dance-music-i-e-help-with-please/259626/8 "2004-08-13T13:22:16Z")
Hava Nagila. What? I’m serious! Everybody loves Hava Nagila! ---
**Author:** ![WordMan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/e8c25b/32.png) [@WordMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WordMan)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2004, 1:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wedding-dance-music-i-e-help-with-please/259626/9 "2004-08-13T13:28:10Z")
You have to gauge the audience - if, ultimately, you are looking for a fun, party atmosphere, then find a balance between obvious dance/disco songs, fun oldies and more modern dance-able stuff. - Stuff off the Saturday Night Fever Soundtrack (hey, disco nights at clubs are popular for a reason) - Its rainin Men by the Weathergirls (ditto) - What I Like About You (Romantics) - We got the Beat/Our Lips our Sealed by the Go-Go’s (girls will jump up and scream) - Pump it up - Elvis Costello - Just Can’t Get Enough by Depeche Mode - Blue Monday - New Order You get the idea… ---
**Author:** ![Sean\_Factotum](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/50afbb/32.png) [@Sean\_Factotum](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sean_Factotum)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2004, 1:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wedding-dance-music-i-e-help-with-please/259626/10 "2004-08-13T13:49:48Z")
You have to have polkas. Lots and lots of polkas. Trust me on this one.